[Infostock Daily=Reporter Park Jeong-Do] The Fair Trade Commission has approved Binggrae to acquire Haitai Ice Cream. With Binggrae, the No. 2 ice cream maker and sales company, acquiring No. 3 Haitai, the ice cream maker will be reorganized into Lotte Confectionery and Binggrae's rivalry.
The Fair Trade Commission said on the 29th that it judged that there was no problem after examining whether the two companies'business combination limited competition in the local ice cream market. This is because Binggrae concluded that even if it takes over Haitai Ice Cream, ice cream prices will not rise or hinder market competition. Rather, it is expected that competition with Lotte Confectionery, the No. 1 company in sales, will be boosted.
Earlier on March 31, Binggrae acquired 100% of the shares issued by Haitai Ice Cream and reported the business combination to the FTC. Haitai Ice Cream was established earlier this year by materially dividing the ice cream business division, which had recorded an operating loss by Haitai Confectionery.
The FTC believes that the business combination of the two companies will rather boost market competition. Above all, even if the two companies are combined, they will not limit competition because Lotte Group affiliates such as Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food are the No. 1 operators in sales. I thought the price of ice cream was unlikely to rise.
With Binggrae holding Haitai Ice Cream in its arms, the domestic ice industry will be transformed into Binggrae and Lotte two powerhouse systems in the future. In terms of market share, Binggrae is the overwhelming number one with 40.7%. The market share of Nielsen Data last year was 28.6% for Lotte Confectionery, 26.7% for Binggrae, 15.5% for Lotte Food, 14% for Haitai Ice Cream, 4.4% for Haagen-Dazs, 2.8% for Hershey, and 2.2% for Naturu (Lotteria).
However, Lotte Confectionery is number one in terms of sales. Lotte Confectionery's sales of frozen ice came to 500 billion won last year. Binggrae's ice cream sales are 300 billion won, and Haitai ice cream sales are 180 billion won.
Reporter Park Jeong-Do newface0301@naver.com
